Colour and Colouring

I loved colouring and drawing as a kid and I remember very well what it was about the images that I liked to colour the most. It was that I really liked looking at them. It was never exciting to colour in a drawing that I didn't like. I still like colouring today and I think that it can be such a fantastic way to wind down and relax. Colouring isn't just great for kids, it's a like a meditation, you just have to allow yourself to really get lost in. So simple, so fun and so effective. And of course as your're colouring in something, you learn so much about colour itself and what it can do.

Today when I make images for the Draw Me A Lion colouring items in the shop, I always try to leave space for the person's imagination that will be doing the colouring. Sometimes it's really fun to colour in a super detailed drawing, but it's also fun to add more by drawing on the drawings and really make it yours.

Here is the original Cat Colouring Postcard I coloured in two different ways up at the top. How would you have coloured it in? Would you have drawn in something extra? Maybe there could be a tiny cat sitting on top of the big cat! It's all up to you!

Drawing Out the Sadness

Me age 5 and my best friend ... in the middle of a mega fight. Not feeling too happy right there. 

Let's face it. Life can't just be peachy all the time. This last week has been one of those less than peachy ones for me and so I thought it might be a great opportunity to talk about something that making art is amazing for. Making art it great at getting you to work through your problems. You can literally make a drawing and draw some of your sadness and anger out of you, just by making it. You don't even really need to try especially hard. It will just end up happening if you allow yourself the time to sit down, put a pen, pencil or marker in your hand and just let go of thinking actively about your problems and instead letting things just come out.

Kids are great at doing this instinctually. Here is a drawing from a little buddy of mine that her mom sent to me in the mail. The girl was feeling a bit sad and so she made a drawing of her being sad. How clever is that? Take note adults, because just like it helped this girl feel better I bet it can do the same thing for you.

Here is a drawing I had made a while back of myself when I was having a bit of an 'un-great'day. Sort of the same concept, right? How does art do that you ask? Well, I think it's a bit of magic and a bit of common sense. The common sense part being that if you allow yourself to express something that is bugging you in one way or another you will find that this acknowledging of the problem will actually help you solve and the problem, and magic, because there is also that part of you that will be able to work through a problem in so many different types of creative ways. You don't even realize you are working through it. You could just be colouring-in a beautiful image and letting your mind relax. Art therapy anyone?

Surround Yourself with beautiful Art

Children's imaginations are rapidly forming and growing. Allowing them to view various types of images on an ongoing basis is crucial in their creative behaviors in my opinion. I was exposed to lots of different kinds of styles and art when I was little. My mother and grandmother had paintings that depicted people and still life's, hung on their walls, while an artist friend of my mothers had amongst other things a variety of abstract and surreal works displayed.

One of the pictures I remember the most now when I think back to that time is one of a rider on a donkey. It was a depiction of the legend of St. Martin, the bishop of France who sacrificed his horse and half of his coat to help others. I think what I loved the most about this image was that it told a story. Because I didn't know the story at the time though, I constantly found myself looking at it and making up my own story to go along with it. It was an image that was interesting and beautiful enough to make me come back to it over and over again. It wasn't too abstract or too literal. I could change the story it was part of over and over again.

Star Flower, Sun Flower and Moon Flower Prints

Today this is exactly the kind of quality I have instilled in all of the prints for Draw Me A Lion. I create all the images so that you are able to create your own fun story out of what you see. So the next time you buy a print for your kids room pick one that will stimulate their imagination rather than just go with the curtains. You'll be happy you did!